Twist of generalized skyrmions and spin vortices in a polariton superfluid

Abstract

We study the spin vortices and skyrmions coherently imprinted into an exciton–polariton condensate on a planar semiconductor microcavity. We demonstrate that the presence of a polarization anisotropy can induce a complex dynamics of these structured topologies, leading to the twist of their circuitation on the Poincaré sphere of polarizations. The theoretical description of the results carries the concept of generalized quantum vortices in two-component superfluids, which are conformal with polarization loops around an arbitrary axis in the pseudospin space.